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Numerous People on U.S. Terror Watchlists Blocked From Entering Country
Aired December 23, 2003 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: CNN has learned that numerous people on U.S. terror watchlists have been blocked from entering this country this month alone.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve now brings us up to speed on that and where we stand now -- Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, a government source says that numerous individuals on government watchlists have been stopped coming into the country at more than one place since December 1st. The source would not elaborate. Another government source says a handful of foreign flight crew members have been stopped in recent days.
But I talked to one administration official this morning, who cautioned that we should not read too much into this. He said that people are stopped all of the time for a variety of reasons, including improper paperwork or criminal background checks. And to this official's knowledge, none of the people who have been stopped recently were placed in custody. That, he said, would be an indication that they were known operatives of any terrorist group.
Officials do continue to insist this morning that information about al Qaeda's continued interest in using aircraft as weapons is corroborated, specific and credible. There is particular concern about flights from other countries, whether they are carrying passenger or whether they are carrying cargo.
The State Department, Transportation Department and the Department of Homeland Security are all reaching out to foreign governments and to airlines to advise them of American concerns, and let them know of the need to enhance security.
Various sources indicate there is particular concern about flights from Mexico and from France. Some government officials caution that there is a flood of information coming from a variety of sources, and the government has a very tough task, trying to determine what is coming from reliable sources, getting it corroborated, and figuring out if various threats are linked. They've been fanning out, for instance, talking to sources, and people of known sources, trying to get more information.
One official said, an example of what might happen, you may get intelligence that tells you terrorists are interested hitting a particular city. You may also get information that they want to hit a particular type of target. You can infer that they might want to hit that particular target, and that particular city, but you don't really know. So it's a very tough job, that they have in front of them right now as they try to sort this out.
We still remain on orange. No indication that we'll come down any time soon. Some sources saying it's going to last into February most likely.
Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Jeanne Meserve, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Entering Country>
Aired December 23, 2003 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: CNN has learned that numerous people on U.S. terror watchlists have been blocked from entering this country this month alone.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve now brings us up to speed on that and where we stand now -- Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, a government source says that numerous individuals on government watchlists have been stopped coming into the country at more than one place since December 1st. The source would not elaborate. Another government source says a handful of foreign flight crew members have been stopped in recent days.
But I talked to one administration official this morning, who cautioned that we should not read too much into this. He said that people are stopped all of the time for a variety of reasons, including improper paperwork or criminal background checks. And to this official's knowledge, none of the people who have been stopped recently were placed in custody. That, he said, would be an indication that they were known operatives of any terrorist group.
Officials do continue to insist this morning that information about al Qaeda's continued interest in using aircraft as weapons is corroborated, specific and credible. There is particular concern about flights from other countries, whether they are carrying passenger or whether they are carrying cargo.
The State Department, Transportation Department and the Department of Homeland Security are all reaching out to foreign governments and to airlines to advise them of American concerns, and let them know of the need to enhance security.
Various sources indicate there is particular concern about flights from Mexico and from France. Some government officials caution that there is a flood of information coming from a variety of sources, and the government has a very tough task, trying to determine what is coming from reliable sources, getting it corroborated, and figuring out if various threats are linked. They've been fanning out, for instance, talking to sources, and people of known sources, trying to get more information.
One official said, an example of what might happen, you may get intelligence that tells you terrorists are interested hitting a particular city. You may also get information that they want to hit a particular type of target. You can infer that they might want to hit that particular target, and that particular city, but you don't really know. So it's a very tough job, that they have in front of them right now as they try to sort this out.
We still remain on orange. No indication that we'll come down any time soon. Some sources saying it's going to last into February most likely.
Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Jeanne Meserve, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Entering Country>
